Detroit Lions fans felt hopeful for Kelvin Sheppard's outlook after he replaced Aaron Glenn as the team's defensive coordinator in the offseason. Although filling Glenn's shoes wasn't an easy task, Sheppard seemed more than ready for the job after working under head coach Dan Campbell as a linebackers coach since 2021.
Sheppard's defense found success early on in the season, but things have regressed with each passing game. That continued with Sunday's disappointing 29-24 loss to the Pittsburgh Steelers, which was made worse by the almost ominous comments Detroit's DC made earlier in the week.
"I can stand on the table behind this — nobody has just lined up and ran the ball down our throats," Sheppard said on Thursday, according to A to Z Sports' Mike Payton. And almost as if he was begging for it to happen, the Steelers went on to amass 230 rushing yards on 27 attempts (8.5 per carry) while running back Jaylen Warren scored two rushing touchdowns.
Kelvin Sheppard Did Himself Zero Favors with Week 16 Effort
The start of the 2025 season had its fair share of bumps; however, the Sheppard-led unit still only allowed 21.6 points per game in the Lions' first seven outings. Unfortunately, it's been largely downhill since then. Including Sunday's loss, Detroit has now surrendered 27.9 PGG since returning from bye in Week 9, and that's without mentioning how the defense has now given up 29-plus points in four straight outings.
Regardless of the talent on the defensive side of the ball, giving up more than four touchdowns per game is never a recipe for success.
Although Sheppard was right to try to fire up his defenders by bringing up how "nobody" has run all over the Lions before Week 16, that also isn't true. Including Week 16, Detroit has allowed 110-plus rushing yards in eight of its 15 games so far, with six of those instances occurring in the last eight games. Coaches are supposed to figure things out as a season progresses, which is clearly the opposite of what Sheppard is doing.
Some might think that moving on from Sheppard after a season would be too soon, but it might be a necessary change that the Lions can't avoid. Coaches are supposed to take ownership when things are going wrong. Sheppard isn't doing that. Instead, he's acting like everything is fine despite the mounting evidence in front of him.
The Lions can't improve if the elephant in the room goes unaddressed. Sheppard needs to be better than he has been if he wants to stick around for the long haul, and the first part of that means taking accountability. Perhaps it'll take some interference from Campbell, much like when he had to step in to take play-calling duties away from offensive coordinator John Morton last month.
Considering how Detroit's offense has often been in a good spot since then, it might be worth a try.
With only two games left in the regular season, the Lions don't have many options left. It's time for Sheppard to prove just what kind of coach he can be, now. If he isn't up to the task, and opponents continue to run wild, it'll be crystal clear what the Lions have to do next.